Marie Fikáčková (9 September 1936 – 13 April 1961) was a

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) ** Fourth Czechoslovak Repu ...

suspected

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

, convicted for the killing of two

newborn In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to Juvenile (orga ...

babies in

Sušice Sušice (; ) is a town in Klatovy District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban mon ...

in 1960. A

neonatal In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to Juvenile (orga ...

nurse, Fikáčková claimed to have killed at least ten newborns between 1957 and 1960, and was

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

in 1961.

Early life

Marie Fikáčková (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Schmidl) was born on 9 September 1936 in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, into a

Sudeten German German Bohemians ( ; ), later known as Sudeten Germans ( ; ), were ethnic Germans living in the Czech lands of the Bohemian Crown, which later became an integral part of Czechoslovakia. Before 1945, over three million German Bohemians constitu ...

family. She was raised in a

dysfunctional In psychology, abnormality (also dysfunctional behavior, maladaptive behavior, or deviant behavior) is a behavioral characteristic assigned to those with conditions that are regarded as dysfunctional. Behavior is considered to be abnormal when i ...

family, and her marriage to a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

man failed. In 1955, Fikáčková graduated from the

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

Klatovy Klatovy (; ) is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban monument zone. Administr ...

, and in 1957 she began working as a

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

in the

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a su ...

department of the hospital in Sušice.

Murders

On 23 February 1960, two

babies died at the obstetric department while Fikáčková was working. Both newborns were females, aged 20 hours and 5 weeks, and the following autopsy found the babies had died an unnatural violent death. Four days later, on 27 February, Fikáčková was arrested directly in the workplace, and during the subsequent interrogation, she confessed to killing the children. She admitted that both had their

skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...

cracked, and broke one of their hands, and acknowledged she also used violence against a dozen other newborns, but those - in her words - survived the attack. During the investigation, Fikáčková confessed to killing at least ten newborn babies at Sušice hospital since she began working there in 1957. The motive for the murders was never officially confirmed, but based on statements made by Fikáčková, claimed she developed temporary feelings of paedophobia (fear of children) during her

menstruation Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and Mucous membrane, mucosal tissue from the endometrium, inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized ...

periods. While invoking crying in the newborn children as part of her work, the crying would cause her to enter a rage where she beat the children severely. Fikáčková also claimed the murders were committed as revenge on Czech children because a Czech man had insulted her about her German heritage. The court doctors found Fikáčková to be sane, but prone to depression,

hysteria Hysteria is a term used to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, female hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that the bas ...

and uncontrollable outbursts of

anger Anger, also known as wrath ( ; ) or rage (emotion), rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong, uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, hurt, or threat. A person experiencing anger will often experie ...

. At her trial, Fikáčková was charged and convicted for only the two murders on 23 February 1960, as it was not possible to prove the older killings she claimed to have committed.

Death

The attacks of aggression were caused by psychopathy. Fikáčková was convicted of murder, sentenced to

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

, and subsequently executed by

Pankrác Prison Pankrác Prison, officially Prague Pankrác Remand Prison (), is a prison in Prague, Czech Republic. A part of the Czech Prison Service, it is located southeast of Prague city centre in Pankrác, not far from Pražského povstání metro stati ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

on 13 April 1961.

References

External links

Marie Fikáčková

Zdravotní sestra zabíjela novorozence, nenáviděla dětský křik
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fikackova, Marie 1936 births 1961 deaths Czech female murderers Czechoslovak murderers of children Czechoslovak nurses Czechoslovak people convicted of murder Czechoslovak people of German descent Executed Czechoslovak women Executed suspected serial killers Female murderers of children Female serial killers Nurses convicted of murdering patients People convicted of murder by Czechoslovakia People executed by the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic by hanging People from Sušice People with antisocial personality disorder

Early life

Murders

Death

See also

References

External links